On the day the calendar turned to July, the Minnesota Lynx had probably their coldest offensive game of the season Tuesday night, and on their biggest stage so far.
Against the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever, Minnesota scored its fewest points this season, shot a season-worst 34.9% and committed 20 turnovers.
It means Indiana took down the WNBA’s top team 74-59 in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship before a largely stunned 12,778 fans inside Target Center.
Alanna Smith led the Lynx with 15 points. Napheesa Collier was an uncharacteristic 6 for 18 for 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Courtney Williams had 11 points but turned the ball over six times.
With Clark missing her third straight game with a groin strain, the Fever used a balancing scoring attack with five players in double figures, including 16 from Natasha Howard.
Not only does the hardware for winning the league’s midseason tournament go back to Indianapolis, so does some sizable cash from the $500,000 prize pool that is part of the championship game.
On the bright side, at least the game doesn’t count in the league standings.
Still, it was a chance for Minnesota to make another statement that they are the best team in the WNBA.
It was a far different story than a year ago, when league-wide expectations were not high for Lynx at the start of last season. But winning last year’s Commissioner’s Cup left no doubt about a club that ultimately reached Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
Now, one year later?
“We have expectations of ourselves, so this game is that. We have an expectation of success. And anything short of that for us is disappointing,” coach Cheryl Reeve said pregame. “The idea of adding more hardware for the franchise is exciting … and a chance for (the players) to earn a little bit of money and build their brands and extend all the things that come from something like this.”
Things started well enough with Minnesota scoring 20 points in the first quarter for an eight-point lead. The Lynx had just 22 points combined in the next two quarters — on 6-for-29 shooting with nine turnovers — to begin the final 10 minutes down by 10 points.
The Lynx led by 13 early in the second quarter but did not score in the final 8 minutes and 13 seconds, missing nine shots and committing five turnovers. Indiana used an 18-0 run for a 32-27 halftime lead.
The Lynx’s seven points in the quarter are a season low, and the halftime total tied the team’s fewest points in a half.
Bad luck carried over to halftime when the popular acrobat Red Panda fell early in her performance, hurting her wrist. But she was ultimately wheeled to the back in a wheelchair.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) reacts after not receiving a foul call during the first half of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship basketball game against the Indiana Fever, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
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